Process of agglomerating materials.



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y Cross Reference` A P. CLAES. n PRGGBSS 0F AGGLOMERA'IING4 MATERIALS. APPLICATION FILED DBO. 27, 1909.

1,084,203. Patented Ju1y30,1912.

UNiTED STATES/1g ENT oFFrcE.

PAUL CLAES, F BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

PROCESS OF AGGLOMERATING MATERIALS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

artiflcial or natural substances which cannot be otherwise advantageously utilized.

Processes for the production of artificial stone have hitherto been known, in which a mixture consisting of lime and other suitable materials is molded into blocks for the purpose of forming the articialstone, and the molded blocks are then. placed in vessels, and the air contained in the vessels is more or less rareed. After the latter operation, the blocks are then subjected to the action of carbon dioxid in order to convert the lime contained in the mixture into carbonate. By employing a vacuum, which is produced in the old processes by yIneans of a pump,

'l the result is obtained that the air contained in the vessels is slowly removed so that carbon dioxid may be admitted to the interior of the vessels, and a certain amount of air which is imprisoned within the blocks escapes from the blocks during the formation of the vacuum.

.The processes known at this time for the carbonation of artificial stone and the like y as above outlined, are all very slow, about twenty-four hours being required for carbonatmg a layer of material of one inch depth, and consequentl these processes can vonly be practically per ormed for producing expensive products, such as artificial stone for ornamental purposes or marble imitations. r v Y The chief objection against the known processes, 'which isthe main cause of the impracticability of quickly and thoroughly carbonating the material, and an objection which the .herein described process is deslgned to overcome, and in which lies its novelty, consists in the fact that when the mass of artificial stone or other material to be agglomerated or hardened is still in pasty condition, the small air bubbles contained in the mass, diffuse slowly on account Patented July 30, 1912.

Application iled December 27, 1909. Serial No. 535,142.

of the great length of time which is con- I sumed in effecting a vacuum or rarefying the air to the degree deslred. The air thus very slowly diffuses along the path of least resistance in the stone, and the lack of force in the movement of the air prevents it from forming large pores in the material. If any pores or channels at all are formed, they are so minute that they are generally closed up by capillary action of the material, and

therefore no means are furnished for the i quick carbonation of the material to `a epth below that of the most superficial layers. 1

In contradistinction to all of the old processes making use of the vacuum, and 'l destined, according to the ideas of their invent-ors to form compact blocks'of stone or artificial marble, the present process is de'- 75 signed for the manufacture of small porous agglomerates on a large scale, for melting purposes or to be used as fuel, the distinf guishing feature of this process being that a vacuum is employed in an entirely novel Se manner for obtaining a novel result, that is,

an extremely rapid and thorough carbonation of the materials throughout their whole mass, and to facilitate the fusion and cornbustion of the materiah The present process maybe performed by A using waste metals, ores to be reduced, and

combustible materials which are .to be made into briquets. The porosity which is imparted to the agglomerated substances is an 90 important feature of the invention, because c it facilitates the penetration of the reducing gases when the materials are to be fused, and it admits of the more ready combustibility of briquets formed according to the material to be a lomerated is reduced to sma pleces an po and dust and is thoroughly mixed with the necessary quantitles Vof lime and water. The paste is then 105 molded under a pressure whichp'varies ac- According to the presentinvention, the

lU. UUNIT'UI I IUNS,

' 45 into the 25 ing the briquets,

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/cording to the nature of the substanceutreat ed. The small moist briquets are then placed in a vessel in which a vacuum can be almost instantly produced. e 1 h de- 5 gree of porosity of the material is obtained by this almostinstantaneous formation of a. vacuum, the air contained in the still asty briquets expanding under such condltions with so great a force as to cause the formation of numerous passages for the escape of the air in the interior of the mass to without the same. Openings are thereby produced which are not closed again, and which afford passages for the penetration of the carbon 5 dioxid withwhic 1n o every part of the interior of the mass. The carbonation of the material is therefore most rapidly effected thoughout all parts of the briquets or other material, and can be effected completely in the'space of a. f ew minutes. As further'helping toward perfect and exceedingly rapid carbonation, the stream of carbon dioxid isintroduced under high pressure into the vessel containafter they have become porous by the sudden exhaustion of the aircon-v tained in the vessel. The reaction o f the carbon dioxid gas and the lime is so violent that the water present in the briquets or other material to be agglomerated is almost instantly vaporized, the heat of the reaction causing this and also causing the more perfect formation of the carbonate.

An apparatus for effecting the process constituting the present invent-ion is shown diagrammatically in the attached sheet of drawing. j In the said drawing B represents a vessel of any suitable shape, but preferably cylindrical, into which briquets or other material to be agglomerated and containing lime and means are int-roi.

Water as the agglomerating duced. In order to secure the best results' from the process, the material should be fed vessel B so that it occupies about 95% of the volume of the vessel, air occu ing the remaining 5% of space within t e vessel. Disposed adjacent vessel B are two vessels E and G of substantiallyequal volume to that of vessel B, and the vessel B connecting vessel n means of pipe L. vThe vessel B being cut may be connected with the vessels E and G by means of the ipe D, pipe F, and the four-way valve which 1s placed at the junction'of the pipes F, D and H, the'latter with ump I. Pump I is connected with Avessel by means of ipe K, and it is connected with vessel by ofi' from communication with either of the vessels E and G as a result of the four-way operation. 'This may be done valve C being in its proper position, a more or less perfect vacuum may be produced within the vessels E and G by opening cocks K and L,va n,d setting the'air pumpI in Cross Reference the material is treated,

l or after the`mofded`anu'prssdriquets or other material to be agglomerated are intro- 'duced into the vessel B. A vacuum having been produced in these vessels, the four-way cock C is then turned so that the interior of vessel B communicates with the interior of vessel E. The air within vessel B is then instantly exceedingly rareed, and in accordance with the conditions hereinbefore laid down, will be raretied to about onetwentieth of an atmosphere. The four-way cock C is then immediately turned so that connection between vessel B and vessel G is established, with the result that the already rarefied air within vessel B will be rareed tothel'exceedingly high degree of one fourhundredthof an atmosphere. These opera- 'l tions take place with such rapidity, that the air contained within the briquets has a violent tendency-to nd its way to the exterior of the,l briquets; with the result that it pro 'duces rather large pores or passages through =all parts of the'material. The carbon dipoxid as is immediately allowed to enter the vesseF B, after the operations above de- .'s'cribed, by means of the pipe A, the gas be' ing' preferably supplied from a vessel containing it under hlgh pressure. The reaction between the carbon dioxid gas and the lime contained in the material to be agglom- 'erated is so violent that the moisture contained in the material is expelled as a result of the heat generated during the reaction, the expelled moisture being allowed to pass from the vessel B by means of the pipe M having a valve M. The eat amount of quick and 'violent reaction tends to a more perfect formation of carbonate of lime in the material, and as before stated, the conditions under which the material is treated render the'same highly porous so that the carbon dioxid gas reaches, in a very short space of time, the most inner parts of the material to be treated, thus securing a perheat generated as a result o the exceedingly e fectly effective carbonation of the material.' v

the molded material passing a stream of carbon dioxid under 5-' pressure into Contact with the material.

2. Process of agglomerating materials, which consists in mixing the material to be agglomerated with lime and water and forming the same into a suitable paste, molding the material into the desired shape and subjecting the same to pressure, suddenly either before producing a vacuum` about the molded ma COATING R PLASTIC.

above wlvay is to be employed as building or as insu ating material 'tis mixed j .eiii""fmater or the like for insulating materia In'i'naking the mixture, the materials must be thoroughly incorporated and then finally lo brought into the desirsd igm under pressu the res. emv mam ame un 1 e mais 121,1` \en,n or se .Preferably four t'tei arts of the crushed o 1n 1n materal. If the b y us ob aine 1s no wa er-proof, as for example,

is the case When cementis employed as a binding material, it can be made water-proof ,by coatin or saturatingmitwnliihJ-.mek

ment Fr silicgg are especially resistant agains e 1n uences of the atmosphere,

water and re.

A compound prepared accordlngto this invention has comblned great strength with' lightness, the weight of the same per cubic yard being only a small fraction of that of the concrete compounds usually employed for structural work, and'reinforced cement.

Thereby, in the case of steel frame building structures, the weight of all supporting 40 beams, girders, columns and other metal parts -lnay be materially diminished, which results in agreat reduct-ion of cost of such structures. Moreover, since the slag composing my new composition of matter is from the charcoal gray iron smelting process, and is hence free from iron, it is manifest that a great drawback which has made the use of cinders, ashes and similar substances undesirable on accountof their destructive effect on iron and steel structural work, is removed by the -new com ound. This sulfur-free slag does not attack iron or Steel and a concrete comprising the same can, therefore, be used in connection with iron or steel without any danger of corrosive or chemical destructive action thereon.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz- Theprocess of producing an insulating and building material which consists in floating incandescent blast-furnace slag upon water while simultaneously perforating the lower crust forming upon the mass, whereby the slao' w'll e uffe and intimately vesiculated, commmuting the pu'ed slag, mixing the comminuted puffed slag with a bind ing material, and forming the mixture 1n o sha- 'e.

n testimony whereof I hereunto aiix my 7o signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HEINRICH OTTMANN.

Witnesses:

ABRAHAM SCHLESINGER, Louis T. MUELLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

